For those dealing with infertility

Since I have read this a week ago, the Lord hasn't let me forget it.  Although I have never struggled with infertility, the Lord has softened my heart and given me great compassion for those who have and may still be struggling.  I always thought growing up (and that healthy fear was a good thing!) that getting pregnant was so easy....but I am realizing that for some, it seems next to impossible.  I don't and will never understand why God allows some people who aren't ready to be mothers get pregnant so easily and unwanted, while others who love the Lord and are obedient to His Word desire a baby more than anything else and can't get pregnant.  BUT this commentary I read by Iva May makes it so much clearer.  I know God has a reason for all of it and some we won't ever understand.  But one thing I DO know is that God's plan is bigger and better than we could ever imagine.

In Luke 1, the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were both upright and followed all of the Lord's commandments.  Elizabeth was barren and had prayed for a son her whole life.  She was old in age and still had no children and was (I assume being human) confused, discouraged and questioning why God had not answered her prayer all these years.  But after 400 years of silence from God, Zechariah (chosen by a lot) went into the temple to pray and burn incense while the people prayed outside the temple.  When he began praying, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, 

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.  He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord....he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth."  

The son that the Lord gave them got the privilege of preparing the way of our LORD!  What a privilege and how proud Zechariah and Elizabeth must have been to have a son filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth!  But Zechariah questioned the angel Gabriel so the angel muted Zechariah until a week after John the Baptist was born when they officially gave him the name God wanted them to give him.  


God didn't answer Elizabeth's request because He had something different in store....something better!  But Elizabeth wasn't the only woman in the Bible that struggled with infertility.  


This below is from Iva's Chronological Bible Study...so true!
"What did Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Tamar, Manoah's wife, Hannah and Elizabeth have in common?  They all wanted a baby and God had so much more in mind.


Sarah wanted a son while God desired a people (Isaac's seed contained a people whose number exceeds the number of stars in the sky)
Rebekah wanted a son while God intended 2 nations (Jacob and Esau)
Rachel wanted a son while God planned for a deliverer (Joseph)
Tamar wanted a son while God intended a future king for Israel (King David)
Manoah's wife wanted a son while God purposed a judge (Samson)
Hannah wanted a son while God wanted a prophet (Samuel)
Elizabeth wanted a son while God appointed a forerunner (John the Baptist) for his own son (Jesus)

"Sometimes God withholds for a time (sometimes a long time) what you desire because he has so much more in mind than you could ever imagine!"


WOW God truly does have a plan and although we may not see it, His plan truly is bigger and better!  This is also true not just of infertility, but other trials we may be facing too. We see tunnel vision but the LORD sees the big picture!  Will we have true FAITH to believe He will do what He says He will do?  Do we truly TRUST Him?  Trust Him with your life...your todays, tomorrows, struggles, joys, patience with your many kids or infertility.  He is fully capable of all things, abundantly more than we could even ask for.